On an entirely surface level, Hail, Caesar! is a really silly film. The sets are bright and colourful, the characters are bombastic and larger than life and the plot is completely insane and all over the place. If you take a closer look, however, it's much more intelligent than it initially comes off as.
Yes, the sets are bright, but their attention to detail is so fantastically minute, you're totally convinced that this is the 50's. The fake film sets are also just as convincing and the films themselves could easily pass off as authentic, if it wasn't for the 21st Century actors populating them. They are obviously slightly exaggerated, for the sake of satire, which probably resonates more with those familiar with retro cinema than regular filmgoers. It's also shot brilliantly by cinematographer Roger Deakins (who was recently Oscar nominated for his work on Sicario), who manages to make the film feel like something that's not only set in the 50's, but also made in the 50's.
The characters may seem a little over the top, but it's all for the sake of comedy. George Clooney's character, a naive Hollywood actor, is kidnapped by a group of communists, who quickly manage to recruit him to their cause, and Alden Ehrenreich's character, a dimwitted Western actor, provides some excellent comedy when he gets cast in a prestigious drama directed by Ralph Fienne's character (hilariously named Laurence Lorenz), whilst Tilda Swinton gives a fantastic double performance as two sisters, who also happen to be rival journalists, both convinced that they write much more 'proper' news than the other. They're all ridiculous caricatures, but they serve a purpose; to gleefully, yet intelligently, poke fun at the movie industry.
In fact, the entire film is really just the Coens sitting back and laughing (affectionately) at the industry they're a part of and that's where the plot comes in. Okay, so 'plot' is a bit of a loose term, there's about as much of a coherent story here as The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Not that that is in any way a bad thing, The Hitchhicker's Gudie to the Galaxy is, after all, my favourite book ever and, just like in Hail, Caesar!, the messiness of the plot only makes it funnier. The plot doesn't get in the way and instead we just rapidly switch back and forth from one ridiculous plot line to another, which would be incredibly distracting, if it wasn't for the fact that Hail, Caesar! is so funny.
Well, when I say funny, I need to clarify that it isn't exactly the kind of 'funny' you'd expect. Hail, Caesar! is satirical. It makes sly, intelligent observations and presents them in a humorous way. It isn't quite the laugh out loud stuff you'd expect from usual comedies, it's much more clever than that, although that's probably the film's biggest weakness. There's some great stuff about public relations, journalism, religion, communism and, of course, the movie industry and it's all ingeniously observed, but it isn't the kind of thing that has average filmgoers falling off of their seats laughing, which is probably the main reason why the film's had such lukewarm box office success. Which is a shame, because beneath the madness, this is a really intelligent film, packed to the brim with incredibly smart jokes and observations, it's just that it might be a little too clever for its own good.
8.2/10
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